Annenberg Foundation
Poetry of Liberation
How do writers use words to protest injustice, challenge the status quo, and shape their own identities? Individuals watch and discuss a video, read author biographies, write poetry and journals, develop a slideshow, and complete a...
Digital Public Library of America
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Are you contemplating a poetry study featuring Emily Dickinson? Finding good primary sources to accompany the study can be a challenge—never fear, help is here! Check out this primary source set that includes manuscripts of several of...
Curated OER
The Learning Network: Poetry Pairing July, 21, 2011
Although not a complete lesson plan, this set of emotionally powerful texts could be used in a variety of lessons. From The New York Times' Learning Network site, the resource includes a poem, an excerpt from a New York Times article and...
Annenberg Foundation
Modernist Portraits
How did literature reflect people's attitudes in post-World War I America? A lesson explores the topic using a variety of activities. Individuals watch and respond to a video; read author biographies and engage in discussion; write...
Curated OER
Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
Denver Art Museum
The Poetry in Non-Events
The photograph, Nellie and her Italian Soda is viewed and discussed by the class. They are instructed to use the photograph as inspiration to write a poem about non-events, or things that are beautiful in every day life. Pupils use a...
Facing History and Ourselves
A Scene from a Middle School Classroom
Citizens in the modern world can't imagine making the same social choices made by many Germans in the 1920s and 1930s, but they don't realize that they actually do it every day by ostracizing others. A case study of middle schoolers...
Curated OER
World Literature: “The Wounded” By Lu Xinhua
“The Wounded,” the title story from a collection of stories about the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1977-78), is the central text in a World Literature unit examining choices. An anticipation guide, discussion topics, vocabulary list,...
Annenberg Foundation
Migrant Struggle
The American Dream is a goal that many pursue, but is it truly attainable for all people? An in-depth lesson explores the plight of migrants in twentieth-century America. The resource includes a video and author biographies and...
Curated OER
Brave New World: Biopoem
“Words can be like x-rays if you use them properly—they’ll go through anything.” Readers of Brave New World will be pierced by an activity that asks them to use details from the text to craft a biopoem for one of the characters in Aldous...
Center for History Education
Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Exploring the Lives of Black Women During the 19th Century
Young historians investigate the often-hidden history of free and enslaved African American women before the Civil War. Using a collection of primary and secondary sources, including speeches, diaries, and poems, they evaluate the often...
Curated OER
Computers in the Classroom
Tenth graders identify and interpret modern poetry through exploration with guided instruction. Students use the Encarta Encylcopedia site to explore further modern poetry and locate poetry that inspires them. Students identify themes...
Curated OER
Lesson Three: Poem Pieces
Students read and analyze stanzas of Civil War poem, The Flags of Michigan, to get perspective on what life was like and how Americans viewed Civil War, rewrite stanzas in modern language, and share new versions of poem with classmates.
Curated OER
Modern American Poetry
Students identify different types of literary terms in poems. They read different poems and create a packet summarizing them. They write a poem of their own and a biography of one of their favorite poets.
Curated OER
Whitman and Lincoln
Students determine if Lincoln and Whitman ever met and write a dialogue between the two men. In this Whitman and Lincoln lesson, students read Whitman's poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" and connect it to the events of Lincoln's presidency....
Curated OER
Yours and My Trail of Tears
Students investigate the Trail of Tears. In this United States history instructional activity, students identify the reason for removing the Cherokee Nation and role play a modern day situation similar to the Indian Removal Act. Students...
Curated OER
The Red Badge of Courage: A New Kind of Realism
Is it possible to tell a true war story? Tim O’Brien says that fiction is for “getting at the truth when the truth isn’t sufficient for the truth.” To get at the truth about war, class members examine primary source materials from the...
Curated OER
PAINTING COLORFUL STORIES INFLUENCED BY JACOB LAWRENCE
Students research the background of Jacob Lawrence and study the music, poetry, and spirit of the Harlem Community that was present during Jacob Lawrence's formative and subsequent art productions. They create a piece of artwork...
Curated OER
Land of the Rising Sun
Students survey aspects of traditional and modern Japanese customs and beliefs in the seven lessons of this unit. Both the culture and the geography of the country are studied in this unit.
Curated OER
Incident
High schoolers gain insight into human behavior from the study of literature. They read a poem and respond by creating a poem of their own. After a lecture/demo, students utilize a worksheet imbedded in this plan to help them compose an...
Curated OER
To Walt Whitman
Students examine the poem To Walt Whitman by Angela de Hoyos. They divide into groups. Each group creates a poem written from one of two perspectives: to Walt Whitman or to de Hoyos from Whitman.
Curated OER
The Red Badge of Courage: A New Kind of Realism
Students research the Civil War and make connections between the war and the interpretation of the war in the novel The Red Badge of Courage to help them understand realism. In this Civil War recounting instructional activity, students...
Curated OER
John Milton and Paradise Lost
Students read one of his minor poems but focus on Paradise Lost. They apply historical criticism to the poem and note the parallel between the Biblical references and the politics of Oliver Cromwell.
Curated OER
Visit a Historical Site
Students research a historical site and determine the site's historical significance to their community. They research the events surrounding the site and conduct field research in order to examine a certain time period. Students write a...